This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/18/inquiry-rendition-torture-isc

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
UK inquiry on rendition and torture to be handed to ISC UK inquiry on rendition and torture to be handed to ISC
(about 5 hours later)
The stalled official inquiry into the UK's involvement in rendition and torture in the years after 9/11 is to be handed to the controversial intelligence and security committee (ISC), the government will announce on Thursday.The stalled official inquiry into the UK's involvement in rendition and torture in the years after 9/11 is to be handed to the controversial intelligence and security committee (ISC), the government will announce on Thursday.
The decision follows years of assurances by ministers that the inquiry would be headed by a senior judge. The decision follows years of assurances by ministers that the inquiry would be headed by a senior judge, with the prime minister having told MPs that no other arrangement would command public confidence. It triggered warnings from human rights groups that the government risked complaints of a cover-up.
It is a move that will dismay human rights groups. The ISC is the oversight body that has been condemned for failing to report on the bulk surveillance operations being conducted by the UK's signals intelligence agency, GCHQ, until after they became public. It has already conducted one inquiry into rendition, after which it cleared MI5 and MI6 of blame. The ISC is the oversight body that has been condemned for failing to report on the bulk surveillance operations being conducted by the UK's signals intelligence agency, GCHQ, until after they became public. Its inquiry into rendition concluded only that MI5 and MI6 had been slow to spot what the CIA had been doing.
The extent to which the agencies were involved in the abuse of terrorism suspects may be outlined on Thursday with the publication of a redacted version of an interim report of the stalled inquiry that was led by Sir Peter Gibson, a retired appeal court judge. Some details about the involvement of the UK's intelligence agencies in the abuse of terrorism suspects may appear in the interim report of the stalled inquiry when it is published on Thursday. The report is being redacted before publication.
Gibson is said to be calling for further investigation into the UK's involvement in the rendition of two Libyan opposition leaders and their families to Tripoli in 2004, and the role played by Jack Straw, who was foreign secretary at the time. Straw was not available for comment but has previously denied any wrongdoing. MI6 is reported to have confronted him with documentary evidence that he personally authorised the agency's involvement in the rendition operations. It is understood that the head of the inquiry, Sir Peter Gibson, has reached no conclusions and made no criticisms of individuals, but has suggested a series of questions for the UK's intelligence agencies. Many concern process and training, rather than individual prisoners or operations.
Gibson's inquiry came to a halt two years ago when Scotland Yard launched a criminal investigation after evidence of the UK-Libyan rendition operations was discovered in an abandoned Tripoli office building during the revolution that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi. There had also been a behind-the-scenes disagreement over the question of whether Gibson, or the heads of MI6 and MI5, would have control of the publication of evidence. One exception is understood to concern co-operation between MI6 and Muammar Gaddafi's intelligence agencies: the ISC is expected to investigate the UK's involvement in the rendition of two Libyan opposition leaders and their families to Tripoli in 2004, and any role Jack Straw, then foreign secretary, played in authorising those operations. Straw was not available for comment on Wednesday. He has denied any wrongdoing, although MI6 is reported to have confronted him with documentary evidence that he personally authorised the agency's involvement in the Libyan rendition operations.
Although Gibson took no oral evidence, he compiled a report based on the documentary evidence he had been able to examine. After sitting on the desk of David Cameron for 18 months, part of that report is finally to be published on Thursday. The growing awareness of the extent to which the UK government and its agencies had become complicit in the mistreatment of terrorism suspects by the US authorities and allies in the "war on terror" was the cause of deep discomfort for incoming ministers when the coalition government was formed in 2010. Within weeks of the election David Cameron announced the inquiry to be led by Gibson. He repeatedly rejected suggestions at that time that the ISC should conduct the investigation, telling MPs: "I do not think for a moment that we should believe that the ISC should be doing this piece of work. For public confidence, and for independence from parliament, party and government, it is right to have a judge-led inquiry." He added: "That is what we need to get to the bottom of the case. The fact that it is led by a judge will help ensure that we get it done properly."
The growing awareness of the extent to which the UK government and its agencies became complicit in the mistreatment of terrorism suspects by the US authorities, and by those states who became close allies in the so-called war on terror, caused deep discomfort for incoming ministers when the coalition government was formed. Gibson's inquiry came to a halt two years ago when Scotland Yard launched a criminal investigation, after evidence of the UK-Libyan rendition operations was discovered in an abandoned Tripoli office building during the revolution that overthrew Gaddafi. There had also been a behind-the-scenes disagreement over the question of whether Gibson, or the heads of MI6 and MI5, would have control of the publication of evidence.
Within weeks of the formation of the government, Cameron announced the establishment of the inquiry to be led by Gibson; when Gibson's inquiries were shelved in January last year, Ken Clarke, then the justice secretary, promised MPs: "The government fully intends to hold a judge-led inquiry into these issues once it is possible to do so and all related police investigations have been concluded." Although Gibson took no oral evidence, he compiled a report based on the documentary evidence that he had been able to examine. After sitting on Cameron's desk for 18 months, part of that report is to be published on Thursday.
The human rights charity Reprieve said it feared that the ISC could not be trusted to deliver anything other than a whitewash. Clare Algar, the organisation's executive director, said: "If the government takes this course, it will be breaking its promise to hold a genuine, independent inquiry into the UK's involvement in torture. Worse still, it will be handing the task to a committee of MPs hand-picked by the prime minister, which has consistently missed major scandals involving the security services. When the inquiry was shelved in January last year, Ken Clarke, then the justice secretary, promised MPs: "The government fully intends to hold a judge-led inquiry into these issues once it is possible to do so and all related police investigations have been concluded."
"The ISC not only lacks independence, it has also sadly been proven to be completely hopeless as a watchdog. David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ken Clarke have all personally pledged to hold an independent, judge-led inquiry into torture – they must not abandon their promise in favour of a whitewash." The decision to hand the inquiry not to a judge but to the ISC was widely condemned on Wednesday. The committee has faced years of criticism as evidence of UK involvement in rendition came to light, and following Edward Snowden's disclosure of the bulk surveillance operations of GCHQ and the NSA.
Today, committee members say they have more powers than in the past and a larger staff and budget, that they can compel the agencies to hand over documents, and that there is no need for "the mistakes of the past" to be repeated.
But the human rights charity Reprieve said it feared the ISC could not be trusted to deliver anything other than a whitewash. Clare Algar, the organisation's executive director, said: "If the government takes this course, it will be breaking its promise to hold a genuine, independent inquiry into the UK's involvement in torture. Worse still, it will be handing the task to a committee of MPs hand-picked by the prime minister which has consistently missed major scandals involving the security services.
"The ISC not only lacks independence – it has also sadly been proven to be completely hopeless as a watchdog. David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ken Clarke have all personally pledged to hold an independent, judge-led inquiry into torture – they must not abandon their promise in favour of a whitewash."
The NGO Freedom from Torture said the government risked complaints of a cover-up. The chief executive, Keith Best, said: "This entire episode – both the allegations and the government's mishandling of them – has further tarnished the UK's reputation as a country that believes in human rights, justice, fairness and the rule of law. We were expecting more from David Cameron."
Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: "It's pantomime season and the government joins in. The 'judge-led inquiry' that never was is shut down and investigating kidnap and torture in freedom's name will be left to a watchdog that never barks and which exonerated the spooks six years ago."
The two rendition operations in which the Libyan dissidents and their families were kidnapped and taken to Gaddafi's jails were mounted either side of Tony Blair's first visit Libya, in which he embraced the dictator, declared that they had found common cause in the fight against terrorism, and announced a £550m gas exploration deal for Shell.The two rendition operations in which the Libyan dissidents and their families were kidnapped and taken to Gaddafi's jails were mounted either side of Tony Blair's first visit Libya, in which he embraced the dictator, declared that they had found common cause in the fight against terrorism, and announced a £550m gas exploration deal for Shell.
One of the dissident's wives was heavily pregnant at the time of the abduction; the other was kidnapped along with his wife and four children, the youngest a girl aged six. The wife of one of the dissidents was heavily pregnant at the time of the abduction; the other dissident was kidnapped along with his wife and four children, the youngest a girl aged six. Both men were leading members of an Islamist group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.
Among the secret papers discovered during the Libyan revolution was a signed letter from the then head of counter-terrorism at MI6, Mark Allen, in which he boasted of his agency's role in one of the rendition operations. Among the secret papers about their abduction that were discovered during the Libyan revolution was a signed letter from the then head of counter-terrorism at MI6, Mark Allen, in which he boasted of his agency's role in one of the operations. There were also secret CIA faxes describing the second operation as a joint UK-Libyan venture. One man received a £2.2m payment after suing the British government; government lawyers are trying to keep the claim by the second victim from being heard in the English courts.
The discovery and publication of the documents deeply disturbed MI6. However, there have been allegations of MI6 and MI5 involvement in a series of other operations in Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco and Bangladesh, as well as Guantánamo Bay and Afghanistan, in which terrorism suspects suffered severe mistreatment. The discovery and publication of the Tripoli documents came as a profound shock to MI6. However, there have been allegations of MI6 and MI5 involvement in a series of other operations in Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco and Bangladesh, as well as Guantánamo Bay and Afghanistan, which have resulted in terrorism suspects suffering severe mistreatment.
In some cases – the most notorious being that of the British resident Binyam Mohamed – the allegations have been found to be true, while in others the government has paid sums totalling several million pounds in order to settle compensation claims out of court.In some cases – the most notorious being that of the British resident Binyam Mohamed – the allegations have been found to be true, while in others the government has paid sums totalling several million pounds in order to settle compensation claims out of court.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.